Lindsay Murdoch

The gunning down last week of 51-year-old school principal Nanthana Kaewchan as she drove home from classes in Nong Chik district in Pattani prompted demands for the government to guarantee teachers' safety from attacks by Muslim insurgents.

Ms Nanthana was the 154th teacher killed since predominantly ethnic Malay Muslim insurgents ignited conflict against the Buddhist state in 2004.

Terrorist attacks and reprisals by state forces in the region have resulted in 5377 people dead and 9513 injured, said Deep South Watch, an organisation that monitors the number of victims.

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Instead of a lull in the violence, a mass defection of insurgents in September has been followed by a surge in terrorist attacks in Thailand's four southernmost provinces, bordering Malaysia.

The head of the region's teacher's association, Boonsom Tongsriplai, said Pattani province's 332 schools would be closed indefinitely until teachers were confident they could be protected. He said teachers in other southern provinces would be asked to join the boycott.

The association was sorry to inconvenience students and their parents, but teachers were under stress from fear.

Thai security forces try to protect teachers by escorting them in convoys to and from schools but they are the target of frequent attacks.

Teachers in non-religious schools are apparently targeted because they are symbols of the state and to push Buddhist residents out by making normal life difficult.

Militants also view the school system as an effort by Bangkok to impose Buddhist culture in the region.

After an escalation of the violence this year, the Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, took direct control of national security this month, a move welcomed by some Muslim leaders in the south.

Earlier, Ms Yingluck had ordered a special command centre be set up to co-ordinate intelligence and the operations of different agencies trying to reduce the violence.

But bombings and attacks have continued at an average of almost four a day across the region, despite the deployment of a 150,000-strong security force that includes soldiers, police, militia and paramilitary forces.

Car bombs in busy markets and attacks on security force posts are common. Hotels frequented by foreigners have been bombed and, on one day in August, Malaysian flags were raised in almost 300 locations.

In one of the biggest attacks recently three defence volunteers were killed and 36 people injured when a bomb exploded on a train in Narathiwat province. Militants have stepped up attacks on shops and businesses that open on Fridays, the Muslim holy day, after demanding they remain closed.